Anthony McIntyre's Blog, page 1165
January 29, 2018
Return The Writings Of Bobby Sands
From The Transcripts:
John McDonagh RFÉ 13 January 2018 offers condolences and comment on the death of Rosaleen Sands. (May she rest in peace.)
New York City (begins time stamp ~ 10:14)Audio Player00:0001:36Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Rosaleen Sands in 1981Photo: 1798 GreenFlag 1916 John: Radio Free Éireann sends its condolences out to the Sands Family and we have a long connection with the Sands Family, in particular with Bernadette – that when she came over to New York she did the show up at WBAI and she got to meet and hang out with Grandpa
Al Lewis and go around the tri-state area and we’ve often had her on as a guest throughout the ’80’s and ’90’s and it was a valuable resource to have them.
But with the death of the mother you see a lot of the hypocrisy that’s going on in people sending out different condolences and particularly irritating – there’s an organisation out of Belfast called the Bobby Sands Trust which is run by, on the board of directors, by a millionaire named Gerry Adams and also Danny Morrison – and they issued a statement of condolences. But if they really were sincere about the condolences they would finish-up the Bobby Sands Trust and not do and sell his life and legacy into books and films and I just wanted to read a statement that the Sands Family had put out and you can get it in The Guardian. It says:
So, if they really want to send condolences they can wind-up and give back all the writings of Bobby Sands back to the Sands Family.
(ends time stamp ~ 11:50)
John McDonagh RFÉ 13 January 2018 offers condolences and comment on the death of Rosaleen Sands. (May she rest in peace.)
New York City (begins time stamp ~ 10:14)Audio Player00:0001:36Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
Rosaleen Sands in 1981Photo: 1798 GreenFlag 1916 John: Radio Free Éireann sends its condolences out to the Sands Family and we have a long connection with the Sands Family, in particular with Bernadette – that when she came over to New York she did the show up at WBAI and she got to meet and hang out with GrandpaAl Lewis and go around the tri-state area and we’ve often had her on as a guest throughout the ’80’s and ’90’s and it was a valuable resource to have them.
But with the death of the mother you see a lot of the hypocrisy that’s going on in people sending out different condolences and particularly irritating – there’s an organisation out of Belfast called the Bobby Sands Trust which is run by, on the board of directors, by a millionaire named Gerry Adams and also Danny Morrison – and they issued a statement of condolences. But if they really were sincere about the condolences they would finish-up the Bobby Sands Trust and not do and sell his life and legacy into books and films and I just wanted to read a statement that the Sands Family had put out and you can get it in The Guardian. It says:
The Sands Family once again reiterates that the Bobby Sands Trust does not act on behalf of Bobby, nor does it represent our family, in any way, shape or form. We again call upon the trust to disband and to desist from using Bobby’s memory as a commercial enterprise.
So, if they really want to send condolences they can wind-up and give back all the writings of Bobby Sands back to the Sands Family.
(ends time stamp ~ 11:50)
Into The Heart Of Darkness
January 27 marked the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazis’ most horrific extermination camp – Auschwitz Birkenau. It was also International Holocaust Memorial Day. Political commentator, Dr John Coulter, uses his Fearless Flying Column today to outlines his own emotional and nightmarish trip to the camp in Poland as part of those commemorations.
In 40 years of being a journalist, I have ever only been made physically ill by an assignment twice in those four decades.
Prison hair – a memorial of hair of many of the 1.5 million slaughtered at Auschwitz.
Once was after a fundamentalist pro-life group showed a film of a termination just after we had enjoyed a complimentary supper meal in a church, but that’s a debate for another day. The other was during my visit to the Auschwitz Birkenau death camp in Poland.
I had seen the terrible footage in documentaries about the Nazis’ Final Solution, but to actually be present in one of those camps was a radically different experience. I knew to expect an awful feeling. That had stemmed from my family’s friendship with former Ulster Unionist Party leader, the late James Molyneaux.
He was a frequent visitor to our house, and whilst he could talk openly about his experiences in the Second World War, the conversation would rapidly be changed once the topic turned to his experience at the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany in 1945. It soon became a taboo subject of chat.
Shoes – Political columnist John Coulter stands inside one of the Auschwitz buildings where a memorial composed of the shoes of many of the camp’s 1.5 million victims has been erected.
Back in Ireland, when telling audiences about my visit to a death camp, I’ve tried to explain the numbers in terms of comparing it – rightly or wrongly – to the Irish Troubles.
Just imagine the 3,000 people who died in the Irish Troubles being slaughtered in 30 minutes – that’s what the Nazis had perfected in their death camp in Poland, Auschwitz Birkenau.
January 27 marks the anniversary of the liberation of the camp by the Russians in 1945 during the final months of World War Two.
Although it was only operational for a handful of years during that war, an estimated one and a half million men, women and children were slaughtered in at Auschwitz using gas, firing squad, torture, horrific medical experiments, hanging, starvation and illness.
In terms of the Nazis Final Solution to eliminate Europe’s Jews, Auschwitz was Hitler’s jewel in the crown of his murder machine.
Execution wall – floral memorials now stand at the notorious execution wall beside the Nazi officers’ quarters where victims were murdered by firing squad.
Hitler’s SS thugs set up two types of concentration camps – a labour camp to supply slave workers, and a death camp, which had only one aim; mass murder.
The tour of the Auschwitz camp lasts around four hours. It will be a roller coaster emotional journey to hell and back again.
Having covered the Irish conflict for more than 30 years, I wrongly believed this experience would prepare me for visiting Auschwitz.
I even watched blockbuster movies on such camps, such as Schindler’s List, starring Irish screen legend Liam Neeson; The Boy In The Stripped Pyjamas, as well as the renowned documentary series The World at War.
Our hotel was an hour’s drive from the camp, but I became engulfed by a dreadful uneasiness as we approached it. Then it hit me.
As I walked through the gates with the notorious metal sign – Work Shall Set You Free – in German, I had to run out again to vomit in the visitors’ centre. My own personal Auschwitz nightmare was underway.
It was a bright, sunny summer’s day and thousands of people were visiting the camp. But this is not a tourist attraction; this is a memorial to man’s inhumanity to man. Indeed, a visit to the camp is more like a pilgrimage to gain a clear feeling of the depths to which man can sink when it comes to the slaughter of fellow humans.
Out of respect for the murdered, we don head sets to enable us to hear the whispers of the tour guide as we visit the various areas of the camp.
No one shouts; no one even talks loudly. Every building is a piece in a jigsaw of mass murder. And the emotional turmoil for the visitor deepens as we visit each cell, each room, each corridor, and each execution yard.
Even inside the buildings I wear my sunglasses to prevent people see me weep are I walk the corridors lined with photos of the victims. Then I realise many others are weeping too at the horrors which out tour guides unfold to us.
It is not merely words – it is clear images; the suit cases of the victims piled high; the hair cut from the victims; the execution wall where people were shot.
Eventually I am composed enough to get my photo taken with the shoes of tens of thousands of victims behind me.
Worse follows. We travel to the Birkenau section to see the beds where victims were held before slaughter. The Nazis tried to cover their tracks by blowing up some of the gas chambers. We see the ruins as they have been left – alongside the ashpit where the remains of the dead were dumped.
Even worse follows. We are taken into a gas chamber. Although it contains a massive memorial wreath, I look skywards to the vents as if I was expecting people to drop the poison gas pellets down.
Then the door slams behind me and for a few terrifying seconds, I experience the petrifying sensation that this is not a shower room, but a room of death. Thankfully, the door is opened and we walk out to see the crematoriums – except the victims’ bodies would have been carried out.
Only one aspect of the camp is off limits – the house of the camp commandant for fear it could become an iconic symbol for neo-Nazis.
But unlike one and a half million other humans, I walk out of Auschwitz. In spite of the warm summer afternoon, my gentle dander becomes a steadily hurried rush as I almost race towards the bus to take me back to the hotel.
And unfortunately, for some neo-Nazis, a trip to the gas chamber has an inhuman meaning. During the time I was there, two young men had their photos taken beside the crematoriums – complete with sick thumbs-up gestures and beaming grins.
But I had been given a glimpse of a man-made Hell. I still have nightmares every January around the commemoration of International Holocaust Memorial Day.
In spite of the nightmarish experience, it is one pilgrimage which I recommend everyone takes at least once in their lives. It will leave you in no doubt about the evils of racism.
John Coulter is a unionist political commentator and former Blanket columnist.
John Coulter is also author of ‘ An Sais Glas: (The Green Sash): The Road to National Republicanism’, which is available on Amazon Kindle.
Follow John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter
In 40 years of being a journalist, I have ever only been made physically ill by an assignment twice in those four decades.
Prison hair – a memorial of hair of many of the 1.5 million slaughtered at Auschwitz.
Once was after a fundamentalist pro-life group showed a film of a termination just after we had enjoyed a complimentary supper meal in a church, but that’s a debate for another day. The other was during my visit to the Auschwitz Birkenau death camp in Poland.
I had seen the terrible footage in documentaries about the Nazis’ Final Solution, but to actually be present in one of those camps was a radically different experience. I knew to expect an awful feeling. That had stemmed from my family’s friendship with former Ulster Unionist Party leader, the late James Molyneaux.
He was a frequent visitor to our house, and whilst he could talk openly about his experiences in the Second World War, the conversation would rapidly be changed once the topic turned to his experience at the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany in 1945. It soon became a taboo subject of chat.
Shoes – Political columnist John Coulter stands inside one of the Auschwitz buildings where a memorial composed of the shoes of many of the camp’s 1.5 million victims has been erected.Back in Ireland, when telling audiences about my visit to a death camp, I’ve tried to explain the numbers in terms of comparing it – rightly or wrongly – to the Irish Troubles.
Just imagine the 3,000 people who died in the Irish Troubles being slaughtered in 30 minutes – that’s what the Nazis had perfected in their death camp in Poland, Auschwitz Birkenau.
January 27 marks the anniversary of the liberation of the camp by the Russians in 1945 during the final months of World War Two.
Although it was only operational for a handful of years during that war, an estimated one and a half million men, women and children were slaughtered in at Auschwitz using gas, firing squad, torture, horrific medical experiments, hanging, starvation and illness.
In terms of the Nazis Final Solution to eliminate Europe’s Jews, Auschwitz was Hitler’s jewel in the crown of his murder machine.
Execution wall – floral memorials now stand at the notorious execution wall beside the Nazi officers’ quarters where victims were murdered by firing squad. Hitler’s SS thugs set up two types of concentration camps – a labour camp to supply slave workers, and a death camp, which had only one aim; mass murder.
The tour of the Auschwitz camp lasts around four hours. It will be a roller coaster emotional journey to hell and back again.
Having covered the Irish conflict for more than 30 years, I wrongly believed this experience would prepare me for visiting Auschwitz.
I even watched blockbuster movies on such camps, such as Schindler’s List, starring Irish screen legend Liam Neeson; The Boy In The Stripped Pyjamas, as well as the renowned documentary series The World at War.
Our hotel was an hour’s drive from the camp, but I became engulfed by a dreadful uneasiness as we approached it. Then it hit me.
As I walked through the gates with the notorious metal sign – Work Shall Set You Free – in German, I had to run out again to vomit in the visitors’ centre. My own personal Auschwitz nightmare was underway.
It was a bright, sunny summer’s day and thousands of people were visiting the camp. But this is not a tourist attraction; this is a memorial to man’s inhumanity to man. Indeed, a visit to the camp is more like a pilgrimage to gain a clear feeling of the depths to which man can sink when it comes to the slaughter of fellow humans.
Out of respect for the murdered, we don head sets to enable us to hear the whispers of the tour guide as we visit the various areas of the camp.
No one shouts; no one even talks loudly. Every building is a piece in a jigsaw of mass murder. And the emotional turmoil for the visitor deepens as we visit each cell, each room, each corridor, and each execution yard.
Even inside the buildings I wear my sunglasses to prevent people see me weep are I walk the corridors lined with photos of the victims. Then I realise many others are weeping too at the horrors which out tour guides unfold to us.
It is not merely words – it is clear images; the suit cases of the victims piled high; the hair cut from the victims; the execution wall where people were shot.
Eventually I am composed enough to get my photo taken with the shoes of tens of thousands of victims behind me.
Worse follows. We travel to the Birkenau section to see the beds where victims were held before slaughter. The Nazis tried to cover their tracks by blowing up some of the gas chambers. We see the ruins as they have been left – alongside the ashpit where the remains of the dead were dumped.
Even worse follows. We are taken into a gas chamber. Although it contains a massive memorial wreath, I look skywards to the vents as if I was expecting people to drop the poison gas pellets down.
Then the door slams behind me and for a few terrifying seconds, I experience the petrifying sensation that this is not a shower room, but a room of death. Thankfully, the door is opened and we walk out to see the crematoriums – except the victims’ bodies would have been carried out.
Only one aspect of the camp is off limits – the house of the camp commandant for fear it could become an iconic symbol for neo-Nazis.
But unlike one and a half million other humans, I walk out of Auschwitz. In spite of the warm summer afternoon, my gentle dander becomes a steadily hurried rush as I almost race towards the bus to take me back to the hotel.
And unfortunately, for some neo-Nazis, a trip to the gas chamber has an inhuman meaning. During the time I was there, two young men had their photos taken beside the crematoriums – complete with sick thumbs-up gestures and beaming grins.
But I had been given a glimpse of a man-made Hell. I still have nightmares every January around the commemoration of International Holocaust Memorial Day.
In spite of the nightmarish experience, it is one pilgrimage which I recommend everyone takes at least once in their lives. It will leave you in no doubt about the evils of racism.
John Coulter is a unionist political commentator and former Blanket columnist. John Coulter is also author of ‘ An Sais Glas: (The Green Sash): The Road to National Republicanism’, which is available on Amazon Kindle.
Follow John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter
January 28, 2018
Them And Us
Anthony McIntyre reflects on the Barry McElduff controversy.
With Barry McElduff having resigned his Westminster seat, jumped or pushed, his departure has brought the curtain down on a long political career.
Regardless of his intentions, when on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre he stuck a Kingsmill loaf on his head and pranced about a shop, there was simply too much doubt for the erstwhile West Tyrone MP to get the benefit of it. His denials, even if genuine, butted with an implacable incredulity. For his account to get over the line people had to believe a triple happenstance: it was the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre; out of all the bread in the shop he chose a Kingsmill brand; that he was a prominent member of a movement, the military wing of which perpetrated the atrocity forty-two years ago.
In trying to understand unionist anger we would do well to consider a scenario in which the Democratic Unionist Party MP Gregory Campbell larked around in a shop on 30th of January with a Bloody Sundae ice cream on his head. Few in the nationalist community would have listened to his protestations that it was all a series of unfortunate coincidences. At the same time unionism overegged the pudding in going after the scalp of Mairtin O'Muilleoir. All O'Muilleoir did was retweet, claiming that he viewed it as “being wholly apolitical and retweeted it on that basis”. Retweets are hardly an endorsement and the urge to curb them seems censorious.
When I first learned of it I thought the safe money had to be on McElduff knowing what he was doing, perhaps prompted by his party leader to do something to “break these bastards”. The more I listened to McElduff’s republican critics, including some from Tyrone, the more doubt grew in my mind. They were adamant that he would never have risked his political career by doing something so outrageous. What preserved him in their estimation was that to consciously do it was so outrageous that only the politically suicidal would have opted for it. Too many of his political critics came to his defence for their perspective to be easily dismissed.
Whatever the motive, it may be postulated that rather than being sectarian in attitude, O'Muilleoir and McElduff are the outworking of a structural sectarianism. People may be sectarian without even knowing it. We can hardy finger point as few of us mange to rise above the ground we stand on. We are so caught up in the atrocities inflicted on our "own" community that we completely overlook what the "other" community sustained. It is not that we know their fate and are indifferent to it, but that we relegate it in terms of emotional and cultural significance. We treat it as something that we simply have no call to remember. It is not war crimes per se that enrage us, just war crimes that happen to our community.
Them and us, as strong as it ever was.
Anthony McIntyre blogs @ The Pensive Quill.
Follow Anthony McIntyre on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre
With Barry McElduff having resigned his Westminster seat, jumped or pushed, his departure has brought the curtain down on a long political career.
Regardless of his intentions, when on the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre he stuck a Kingsmill loaf on his head and pranced about a shop, there was simply too much doubt for the erstwhile West Tyrone MP to get the benefit of it. His denials, even if genuine, butted with an implacable incredulity. For his account to get over the line people had to believe a triple happenstance: it was the anniversary of the Kingsmill massacre; out of all the bread in the shop he chose a Kingsmill brand; that he was a prominent member of a movement, the military wing of which perpetrated the atrocity forty-two years ago.
In trying to understand unionist anger we would do well to consider a scenario in which the Democratic Unionist Party MP Gregory Campbell larked around in a shop on 30th of January with a Bloody Sundae ice cream on his head. Few in the nationalist community would have listened to his protestations that it was all a series of unfortunate coincidences. At the same time unionism overegged the pudding in going after the scalp of Mairtin O'Muilleoir. All O'Muilleoir did was retweet, claiming that he viewed it as “being wholly apolitical and retweeted it on that basis”. Retweets are hardly an endorsement and the urge to curb them seems censorious.
When I first learned of it I thought the safe money had to be on McElduff knowing what he was doing, perhaps prompted by his party leader to do something to “break these bastards”. The more I listened to McElduff’s republican critics, including some from Tyrone, the more doubt grew in my mind. They were adamant that he would never have risked his political career by doing something so outrageous. What preserved him in their estimation was that to consciously do it was so outrageous that only the politically suicidal would have opted for it. Too many of his political critics came to his defence for their perspective to be easily dismissed.
Whatever the motive, it may be postulated that rather than being sectarian in attitude, O'Muilleoir and McElduff are the outworking of a structural sectarianism. People may be sectarian without even knowing it. We can hardy finger point as few of us mange to rise above the ground we stand on. We are so caught up in the atrocities inflicted on our "own" community that we completely overlook what the "other" community sustained. It is not that we know their fate and are indifferent to it, but that we relegate it in terms of emotional and cultural significance. We treat it as something that we simply have no call to remember. It is not war crimes per se that enrage us, just war crimes that happen to our community.
Them and us, as strong as it ever was.
Anthony McIntyre blogs @ The Pensive Quill.Follow Anthony McIntyre on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre
Holy Vending Machines
Andrew McArthur writing on the money grabbing racket called religion.
“Take my silver dollar
Break it into quarters
Shove ‘me in the godly machine”
A couple of years back, my wife and I went on vacation to Puerta Vallarta Mexico; get a little sun, get away from it all. Some of you are familiar with the drill. For those who do not indulge in this practice, I highly recommend it. It's good to relax on occasion.
As it happened, prior to our trip we had been discussing the Theory of Evolution. As part of that discussion I showed her a graphic representing the various developmental phases of a Human fetus. To say the least, she was taken aback by the gill slits and the tail, both of which are clearly visible early on. I could tell the image and explanation had impacted her beliefs a bit, but also knew it would take some time for her to process the new information.
It seems everybody gotta have a Cathedral
It's something we do when we go to a place we have never been before; we take a tour of the local city. There's one thing you can't help but notice when visiting any large Latin-American city; everybody has a Cathedral. Not Just a church, a Cathedral. This is an important distinction. Cathedrals tend to be grand displays of religious architecture, whereas churches tend to be significantly less imposing. We usually pop inside for a look and the Cathedral in Puerta Vallarta was no exception. It was ornate. It was opulently festooned with frescos and statues all paying tribute to Jesus or the Madonna ( no, not the rock star! ) all in all, an artistically satisfying experience.
Once we had passed through the heavy wooden doors, I happened to notice immediately to our left was a display of what I took to be the same graphic regarding foetal development I had shown to my wife only a few days before. I say “what I took to be” because a quick glance showed a few notable discrepancies between the instructional tool I had used, as compared to the version the Catholics had chosen to display. Gone were the gill slits! Gone was the tail! Damn, I think maybe it must have been a miracle!
Is ignorance really bliss?
I could see uncertainty blossoming in my wife's expression. I asked her only one question: if they are willing to lie about this, what else do you think they might be lying about?
Fire bad! Live in cave in dark, eat cold food!
Religions have a vested interest in keeping their populations ignorant. More than one study has shown a direct correlation between education and the propensity to believe in god. The thing about knowledge, the actual real thing, is that once most people acquire some, they have a tendency to develop a taste for it. This is obviously anathema to any religious doctrine or dogma, and so god mongers everywhere tend to land one the side of “Fire bad! Live in cave in dark. Eat cold food!” But I digress.
The title of this piece is Holy Vending Machines, not why Religion Loves Ignorance, although that may be an idea for something down the line.
As far as I know, the lighting of candles for the souls of the dead has been a Catholic tradition for centuries. In and of itself, I see no real harm in the practice (other than the harm religion in general inflicts on people,) and of course this service was available at the Cathedral we visited. But there was a catch. The candles in this church were kept under in a clear plastic box, and we're obviously gas fuelled. The box itself was attached to a gizmo which allowed people to insert pesos in order to cause a candle to become lit for a couple of minutes, after which, the flame would go out and the parishioner would move on. The lineup for this version of Dial-A-Prayer did not diminish in size the entire time we were there.
Cha-Ching!
What struck me most about this blatant bit of godly extortion was not the fact it was happening; I know enough about the operations of the Catholic Church to understand that at the end of the day they are not so much concerned with the eternal soul, as they are in maintaining an eternal inflow of money. No, what struck me the most was the obvious lack of economic prosperity evidenced in those who waited patiently in line for the opportunity to do their bit in lining the coffers of this Draconian institution. These were people who could ill afford to give! They were not clad in fine cloth like the members of the clergy. They sported little in the way of gold jewellery ( with the notable exception of the small crucifixes some of them wore in some fashion.) These people were poor.
It made me angry, and still does to this day; the obvious greed of this supposedly godly bunch of priestly pontificators, in stark contrast to the obvious lack of economic success of their prey. Even my wife ( who is a christian ) was shaking her head at the unmitigated gall of these Collection Agents for Christ.
You often hear tell of the good works done by the emissaries of the church. They will unhesitatingly fill your ears with tales of monies and services provided for the poor and downtrodden of this world. What they inevitably fail to mention, is the despicable ways they go about extorting money from those same poor or downtrodden. It's as though I were to tell someone to give me ten dollars, then upon returning five of those dollars to the community, in which they reside, expect praise for my largess. If you need any proof of the disparity between income and outlay of cash in the Roman Catholic Church, I suggest a visit to Vatican City, or you can simply take the time to visit a Cathedral near you.
What's next pay-pews?
Andrew McArthur is an Atheist Republic blogger and newsletter contributor.
“Take my silver dollar
Break it into quarters
Shove ‘me in the godly machine”
A couple of years back, my wife and I went on vacation to Puerta Vallarta Mexico; get a little sun, get away from it all. Some of you are familiar with the drill. For those who do not indulge in this practice, I highly recommend it. It's good to relax on occasion.
As it happened, prior to our trip we had been discussing the Theory of Evolution. As part of that discussion I showed her a graphic representing the various developmental phases of a Human fetus. To say the least, she was taken aback by the gill slits and the tail, both of which are clearly visible early on. I could tell the image and explanation had impacted her beliefs a bit, but also knew it would take some time for her to process the new information.
It seems everybody gotta have a Cathedral
It's something we do when we go to a place we have never been before; we take a tour of the local city. There's one thing you can't help but notice when visiting any large Latin-American city; everybody has a Cathedral. Not Just a church, a Cathedral. This is an important distinction. Cathedrals tend to be grand displays of religious architecture, whereas churches tend to be significantly less imposing. We usually pop inside for a look and the Cathedral in Puerta Vallarta was no exception. It was ornate. It was opulently festooned with frescos and statues all paying tribute to Jesus or the Madonna ( no, not the rock star! ) all in all, an artistically satisfying experience.
Once we had passed through the heavy wooden doors, I happened to notice immediately to our left was a display of what I took to be the same graphic regarding foetal development I had shown to my wife only a few days before. I say “what I took to be” because a quick glance showed a few notable discrepancies between the instructional tool I had used, as compared to the version the Catholics had chosen to display. Gone were the gill slits! Gone was the tail! Damn, I think maybe it must have been a miracle!
Is ignorance really bliss?
I could see uncertainty blossoming in my wife's expression. I asked her only one question: if they are willing to lie about this, what else do you think they might be lying about?
Fire bad! Live in cave in dark, eat cold food!
Religions have a vested interest in keeping their populations ignorant. More than one study has shown a direct correlation between education and the propensity to believe in god. The thing about knowledge, the actual real thing, is that once most people acquire some, they have a tendency to develop a taste for it. This is obviously anathema to any religious doctrine or dogma, and so god mongers everywhere tend to land one the side of “Fire bad! Live in cave in dark. Eat cold food!” But I digress.
The title of this piece is Holy Vending Machines, not why Religion Loves Ignorance, although that may be an idea for something down the line.
As far as I know, the lighting of candles for the souls of the dead has been a Catholic tradition for centuries. In and of itself, I see no real harm in the practice (other than the harm religion in general inflicts on people,) and of course this service was available at the Cathedral we visited. But there was a catch. The candles in this church were kept under in a clear plastic box, and we're obviously gas fuelled. The box itself was attached to a gizmo which allowed people to insert pesos in order to cause a candle to become lit for a couple of minutes, after which, the flame would go out and the parishioner would move on. The lineup for this version of Dial-A-Prayer did not diminish in size the entire time we were there.
Cha-Ching!
What struck me most about this blatant bit of godly extortion was not the fact it was happening; I know enough about the operations of the Catholic Church to understand that at the end of the day they are not so much concerned with the eternal soul, as they are in maintaining an eternal inflow of money. No, what struck me the most was the obvious lack of economic prosperity evidenced in those who waited patiently in line for the opportunity to do their bit in lining the coffers of this Draconian institution. These were people who could ill afford to give! They were not clad in fine cloth like the members of the clergy. They sported little in the way of gold jewellery ( with the notable exception of the small crucifixes some of them wore in some fashion.) These people were poor.
It made me angry, and still does to this day; the obvious greed of this supposedly godly bunch of priestly pontificators, in stark contrast to the obvious lack of economic success of their prey. Even my wife ( who is a christian ) was shaking her head at the unmitigated gall of these Collection Agents for Christ.
You often hear tell of the good works done by the emissaries of the church. They will unhesitatingly fill your ears with tales of monies and services provided for the poor and downtrodden of this world. What they inevitably fail to mention, is the despicable ways they go about extorting money from those same poor or downtrodden. It's as though I were to tell someone to give me ten dollars, then upon returning five of those dollars to the community, in which they reside, expect praise for my largess. If you need any proof of the disparity between income and outlay of cash in the Roman Catholic Church, I suggest a visit to Vatican City, or you can simply take the time to visit a Cathedral near you.
What's next pay-pews?
Andrew McArthur is an Atheist Republic blogger and newsletter contributor.
January 27, 2018
Not Terminal But ...
Daithi O’Donnabhain writes about an event he attended in London.
London’s Anti-Internment Group (AIG) Meeting 19/01/17
I was an attendee at Friday's meeting of the London Anti-Internment Group (AIG). It seemed to be a joint venture with Turkish activists who were critical of President Erdogan. I didn’t pick up any names of Turkish groups they represented but I was ten minutes late so these might have been given in an introduction I would of missed.
The speaker for the Irish experience was primarily Cait Trainor - I think ex of Republican Sinn Fein. And the topics she covered, political policing in the North and South, an unjust legal system, the surveillance state and the type of experiences a political activist can face in Ireland. The examples of Tony Taylor , the Craigavon Two and simple family man (ahem) Liam Campbell’s extradition to Lithuania were covered closely.
I am not going to cover the Turkish content in the talk in this piece, it was a filmed event, so perhaps those interested in that part can seek it out. The reason for this is I am mindful of bombarding people with too many disparate pieces of information, and this reservation leads me into my main problem with the organisers of the meeting.
After the main talks, an invitation was given for questions from the floor, which others (I think AIG members) took as an opportunity to give a short(ish) biography of themselves and their activism. Another took the opportunity to notify us of some American prison ”lay down” protest that also required our immediate attention at this precise juncture. One of the chairs added that he had a letter from jailed republican activist Christine O’Connor, which prompted another AIG member to announce she had a short letter from a jailed member of the Black Liberation Army she would like to read. It wasn’t short.
Finally, an Irish accent asked about MI5’s role in the North, and how it was crucial to understanding what is going in the North. I was instantly interested when he said he was the guy who had his slipper bugged by the security services (which I remembered reading about because of its novel location), and this prompted a welcome back and forth exchange with Cait on the stage. Unfortunately this was also cut short as the organisers could lose the deposit for the room if we didn’t end the event and leave. I was then handed a leaflet about a Grenfell Tower demo, which I think is ultimately fairly apt. The Irish struggle, the only reason I was there, was allotted a smaller fraction of the evening's attention.
It is hard to critique a meeting for being unfocussed when it is split with another movement (yes , I get the proposition that their struggles aren’t different because both are the result of imperialism), but the additional, unnecessary tangents were not helpful. In her presentation, Cait had already highlighted the apathy within Ireland itself for the fate of its sons and daughters in British jails. It begs the question, how effective asking them to show concern for those in Turkish jails will likely be? How will the organisers measure the efficacy of this approach?
Cait mentioned the benefit of these meetings going out online, meaning they have a wider audience than just those in attendance that evening, and how Republicans should have regular podcasts and a central point for media creation, distribution. I myself have wondered on here why Radio Free Eireann (for example) isn’t available as a podcast, to make it easier to access.
My final thought on the meeting confirmed what I already suspected: the Republican message is better delivered by our women at this stage, for framing the debate in a softer aesthetic.
Nothing I have written here should be taken as terminal. We should all welcome opportunities to do better for the prisoners.
Daithi O’Donnabhain is a frequent commenter to TPQ.
London’s Anti-Internment Group (AIG) Meeting 19/01/17
I was an attendee at Friday's meeting of the London Anti-Internment Group (AIG). It seemed to be a joint venture with Turkish activists who were critical of President Erdogan. I didn’t pick up any names of Turkish groups they represented but I was ten minutes late so these might have been given in an introduction I would of missed.
The speaker for the Irish experience was primarily Cait Trainor - I think ex of Republican Sinn Fein. And the topics she covered, political policing in the North and South, an unjust legal system, the surveillance state and the type of experiences a political activist can face in Ireland. The examples of Tony Taylor , the Craigavon Two and simple family man (ahem) Liam Campbell’s extradition to Lithuania were covered closely.
I am not going to cover the Turkish content in the talk in this piece, it was a filmed event, so perhaps those interested in that part can seek it out. The reason for this is I am mindful of bombarding people with too many disparate pieces of information, and this reservation leads me into my main problem with the organisers of the meeting.
After the main talks, an invitation was given for questions from the floor, which others (I think AIG members) took as an opportunity to give a short(ish) biography of themselves and their activism. Another took the opportunity to notify us of some American prison ”lay down” protest that also required our immediate attention at this precise juncture. One of the chairs added that he had a letter from jailed republican activist Christine O’Connor, which prompted another AIG member to announce she had a short letter from a jailed member of the Black Liberation Army she would like to read. It wasn’t short.
Finally, an Irish accent asked about MI5’s role in the North, and how it was crucial to understanding what is going in the North. I was instantly interested when he said he was the guy who had his slipper bugged by the security services (which I remembered reading about because of its novel location), and this prompted a welcome back and forth exchange with Cait on the stage. Unfortunately this was also cut short as the organisers could lose the deposit for the room if we didn’t end the event and leave. I was then handed a leaflet about a Grenfell Tower demo, which I think is ultimately fairly apt. The Irish struggle, the only reason I was there, was allotted a smaller fraction of the evening's attention.
It is hard to critique a meeting for being unfocussed when it is split with another movement (yes , I get the proposition that their struggles aren’t different because both are the result of imperialism), but the additional, unnecessary tangents were not helpful. In her presentation, Cait had already highlighted the apathy within Ireland itself for the fate of its sons and daughters in British jails. It begs the question, how effective asking them to show concern for those in Turkish jails will likely be? How will the organisers measure the efficacy of this approach?
Cait mentioned the benefit of these meetings going out online, meaning they have a wider audience than just those in attendance that evening, and how Republicans should have regular podcasts and a central point for media creation, distribution. I myself have wondered on here why Radio Free Eireann (for example) isn’t available as a podcast, to make it easier to access.
My final thought on the meeting confirmed what I already suspected: the Republican message is better delivered by our women at this stage, for framing the debate in a softer aesthetic.
Nothing I have written here should be taken as terminal. We should all welcome opportunities to do better for the prisoners.
Daithi O’Donnabhain is a frequent commenter to TPQ.
Radio Free Eireann Broadcasting 27 January 2018
Martin Galvin
with details of this weekend's broadcast from
Radio Free Eireann.
Radio Free Eireann.
will broadcast this Saturday January 27th.Ballymurphy Massacre campaigner John Teggart,will describe his feelings as he and other campaigners sat in the British Parliament and heard Tories and DUP MPs praise a proposed new British law which could prevent any prosecutions of British troopers who murdered 11 people over a three day killing spree.
On the anniversary of his father's death in a British prison, RFE will play a tape of Guildford Four member Gerry Conlon speaking about the incident in a live reading at Rocky Sullivan's.
As we near the St. Patrick's Day season, we will get hear from some of the artists who will be coming to New York to perform.
John McDonagh and Martin Galvin co- host.
Radio Free Eireann is heard Saturdays at 12 Noon New York time on wbai 99.5 FM and wbai.org.
It can be heard at wbai.org in Ireland from 5pm to 6pm or anytime after the program concludes on wbai.org/archives.
On the anniversary of his father's death in a British prison, RFE will play a tape of Guildford Four member Gerry Conlon speaking about the incident in a live reading at Rocky Sullivan's.
As we near the St. Patrick's Day season, we will get hear from some of the artists who will be coming to New York to perform.
John McDonagh and Martin Galvin co- host.
Radio Free Eireann is heard Saturdays at 12 Noon New York time on wbai 99.5 FM and wbai.org.
It can be heard at wbai.org in Ireland from 5pm to 6pm or anytime after the program concludes on wbai.org/archives.
January 26, 2018
A United Ireland, Now More So Than Ever, Is Achievable!
The 1916 Societies feel the potential for Irish unity is greater than ever before.
The 1916 Societies Annual Convention was held in Knockatallon, Co Monaghan, on Saturday 20th January, which was attended by activists from the length and breadth of Ireland as well as Scotland. The event included international speakers from Catalonia and Palestine.
The incoming National Organiser Mark Campbell chaired the event, annual reports were read out by each department. Barry Monteith proceeded over the election of the new officer board and conducting internal organisational matters. Afterwards, there was a minute silence held for two Society members that had passed during the year, Paddy O’Neill and Tom Timoney. The Proclamation was then read by Neil McThréanlámh.
The 1916 Societies Chairman Frankie Quinn facilitated an open discussion around Left Republican and Socialist strategy, along with groups such as the Peadar O’Donnell forum and Proclamation Project and how to utilise media platforms. In which he gave examples of media education which the ‘Societies’ facilitated in the past. He went on to explain the importance of showing Republicanism in its most positive light, that Anti Imperialist Struggle is about more than just the armed conflicts of the past. It is about getting feet on the street, engaging the mass of the people, the Catalan initiative being a prime example of that.
This was then followed by the Independent Dungannon Councillor Barry Monteith, who is also a member of The Thomas Clarke Society, Dungannon, talked about massive surge towards support for a United Ireland, from people who would never have traditionally gotten behind the concept. Even amongst conservative elements of the Irish population, such as Fine Gael. With the advent of the centenary of 1916 millions of Irish people have attended commemorative events across the island. A whole new generation of people are re-engaging about the future of their country. The fundamental issue of the National Question has not gone away, despite the concerted efforts from some quarters, such as the normalisation and promotion of the Northern Irish Identity, etc, which has been shattered.
The 1916 Societies started out in 2009, when Irish Republicanism was at a very low ebb, very few people would have said that there would ever be an opportunity of seeing a ‘United Ireland’ in their lifetime. Now people are a lot more confident of actually live in one. Though this is only an opportunity, but what ‘we’ can do is, make sure the opportunity becomes a reality. We do that, by getting out there with our message of ‘Independence and Sovereignty’.
The first of our two international speakers took to the stage, the Palestinian activist Dr Nidul Saadeh, who began by stating that, if you look throughout history, Ireland united north and south, has been one of the most outstanding countries in standing for international justice and the causes such as Palestine. The line is very clear between freedom seekers and freedom fighters from Cuba, Palestine, Ireland, Catalonia, Basque, Vietnam and South Africa and those who infringe on those freedoms and Human Rights such as the UK, US, Israel and Apartheid South Africa.
He went on to describe how the Palestinian people have been lied to and deceived by European Union and the US, and also that they were mis-lead by the bourgeois leadership, such as Palestinian Authority. Over the last two decades, which has resulted ‘in losing, thousands of hectares of land, and thousands of lives and a lot more suffering of the people, without any achievements’. None of which take away from the just roots of the Palestinian cause. He made parallels between the Bourgeois in Palestine and in Ireland and how they benefited economically and undermined the struggle. Though a new generation of activists that are coming to the core, which have stunned the Israeli’s with their readiness to resist and ‘Alertness, awareness and organisation’. Trumps blunder in naming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has added fuel to the fire, insulting people at many levels from human, ethnic and ecclesiastic. The arrogance of handing specific control to one grouping over another, especially over such contested land can be seen as nothing but incendiary from human and philosophical perspective. Palestinians are waking up to the notion that Israel doesn’t want to compromise but rather to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians off the map. That having Zionist only areas and infrastructure Israel is an apartheid regime. He questioned why Western States including Ireland continue to entertain an Israeli presence in their countries given Israel’s questionable activities not only in Palestine but in the wider Middle East, in terms of trying to destabilise the Arabic countries that have supported Palestine in the past. He welcomed any support for the Palestinian cause, no matter how small, but that it was vital that initiatives such as BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) in fighting the Neo-Colonial, Israeli regime. The boycott of ‘Sport, Cultural and Political movements’ empowered the Palestinian people. Highlighting and boycotting such things, such as Israelis pharmaceutical’s and weapon manufacture, for example, would undermine the regime.
Next up was Alfred de Lleida, a Catalonian independence activist who described the events around the October 3rd Catalonian Independence referendum and how the democratic will of the Catalonian people has been undermined by the Spanish state. Even after the draconian measures carried out by the Spanish State, in the lead up to the referendum the Catalans still voted in overwhelming numbers on behalf of those seeking independence. He also pointed out, the unnecessary incarceration of those who organised the referendum. Though the initial momentum garnered though the October 3rd was not used to its full potential, down to the disorganisation of some the leaders of the independence movement and the initiative was lost. The new Republic was impossible to enforce, because of lack of support from the international community on an official level and so on. However, because of the violent nature in which the Spanish state clamped down on the movement and enforced direct rule on Catalonia. Which has done a lot to discredit the Spanish state in the region as well as the international stage. There was also a small victory in that Independence movement was re-elected as the majority in the regional parliament. He drew parallels in the Irish struggle for independence after 1916. Moving forward they will have to develop new strategies to build a consensus within grassroots communities around what the new Republic can offer such as social justice and equality. Also how communities have organised themselves for the defence of the Republic, which is something that could be built upon. Also discussed was the possibility to build a solidarity with Countries on the European periphery and also North African States.
Frankie Quinn in responding to some the points being made by Alfred about 1916 and War of Independence, such as how the right-wing elements will inevitably try to position themselves into power and carry out a Counter-Revolution. A change of the flag isn’t enough and won’t change the conditions of working-class people. Frankie went on the say that although the Catalans may have lost this battle, there is every chance that this has set in motion the start of Catalan freedom.
This was followed by Neil McThréanlámh of the Sean Heuston 1916 Society, Dublin, give an insight of the 1916 Societies involvement in the Anti Eviction Campaign. Neil who has just completed a law degree, holds a clinic once a week to give advice to those facing eviction and so on. He explains that you cannot divorce law from politics, that laws are enacted on whims of those in power to keeps in privilege. He goes on to say that most Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil ministers are landlords, that enacted laws which favours banks over the rights of ordinary people. For example, the court services have an investment committee, which means some of the judges involved in that, also presides over the court of appeal. That this investment committee has been investing in banks and other funds since the introduction of the Euro, he shed light on the conflict of interests.which lies at the very heart of the system. He goes on to make the point that, all that stops us living in a decent society is good laws that favours the people, which would allow them to keep a roof over their head even during hard times. Some of the activities in which Sean Heuston Society and other Dublin based societies have been involved were direct action protests, such as sit-ins in bank lobbies, properties which bailiffs were trying to seize and so on.
Frankie Quinn then ended the proceedings by thanking the speakers and everyone who was involved, then paying a mark of respect to Seamus McElwaine who’s monument is only is yards from the gathering.
The 1916 Societies Annual Convention was held in Knockatallon, Co Monaghan, on Saturday 20th January, which was attended by activists from the length and breadth of Ireland as well as Scotland. The event included international speakers from Catalonia and Palestine.
The incoming National Organiser Mark Campbell chaired the event, annual reports were read out by each department. Barry Monteith proceeded over the election of the new officer board and conducting internal organisational matters. Afterwards, there was a minute silence held for two Society members that had passed during the year, Paddy O’Neill and Tom Timoney. The Proclamation was then read by Neil McThréanlámh.
The 1916 Societies Chairman Frankie Quinn facilitated an open discussion around Left Republican and Socialist strategy, along with groups such as the Peadar O’Donnell forum and Proclamation Project and how to utilise media platforms. In which he gave examples of media education which the ‘Societies’ facilitated in the past. He went on to explain the importance of showing Republicanism in its most positive light, that Anti Imperialist Struggle is about more than just the armed conflicts of the past. It is about getting feet on the street, engaging the mass of the people, the Catalan initiative being a prime example of that.
This was then followed by the Independent Dungannon Councillor Barry Monteith, who is also a member of The Thomas Clarke Society, Dungannon, talked about massive surge towards support for a United Ireland, from people who would never have traditionally gotten behind the concept. Even amongst conservative elements of the Irish population, such as Fine Gael. With the advent of the centenary of 1916 millions of Irish people have attended commemorative events across the island. A whole new generation of people are re-engaging about the future of their country. The fundamental issue of the National Question has not gone away, despite the concerted efforts from some quarters, such as the normalisation and promotion of the Northern Irish Identity, etc, which has been shattered. The 1916 Societies started out in 2009, when Irish Republicanism was at a very low ebb, very few people would have said that there would ever be an opportunity of seeing a ‘United Ireland’ in their lifetime. Now people are a lot more confident of actually live in one. Though this is only an opportunity, but what ‘we’ can do is, make sure the opportunity becomes a reality. We do that, by getting out there with our message of ‘Independence and Sovereignty’.
The first of our two international speakers took to the stage, the Palestinian activist Dr Nidul Saadeh, who began by stating that, if you look throughout history, Ireland united north and south, has been one of the most outstanding countries in standing for international justice and the causes such as Palestine. The line is very clear between freedom seekers and freedom fighters from Cuba, Palestine, Ireland, Catalonia, Basque, Vietnam and South Africa and those who infringe on those freedoms and Human Rights such as the UK, US, Israel and Apartheid South Africa.
He went on to describe how the Palestinian people have been lied to and deceived by European Union and the US, and also that they were mis-lead by the bourgeois leadership, such as Palestinian Authority. Over the last two decades, which has resulted ‘in losing, thousands of hectares of land, and thousands of lives and a lot more suffering of the people, without any achievements’. None of which take away from the just roots of the Palestinian cause. He made parallels between the Bourgeois in Palestine and in Ireland and how they benefited economically and undermined the struggle. Though a new generation of activists that are coming to the core, which have stunned the Israeli’s with their readiness to resist and ‘Alertness, awareness and organisation’. Trumps blunder in naming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has added fuel to the fire, insulting people at many levels from human, ethnic and ecclesiastic. The arrogance of handing specific control to one grouping over another, especially over such contested land can be seen as nothing but incendiary from human and philosophical perspective. Palestinians are waking up to the notion that Israel doesn’t want to compromise but rather to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians off the map. That having Zionist only areas and infrastructure Israel is an apartheid regime. He questioned why Western States including Ireland continue to entertain an Israeli presence in their countries given Israel’s questionable activities not only in Palestine but in the wider Middle East, in terms of trying to destabilise the Arabic countries that have supported Palestine in the past. He welcomed any support for the Palestinian cause, no matter how small, but that it was vital that initiatives such as BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) in fighting the Neo-Colonial, Israeli regime. The boycott of ‘Sport, Cultural and Political movements’ empowered the Palestinian people. Highlighting and boycotting such things, such as Israelis pharmaceutical’s and weapon manufacture, for example, would undermine the regime.
Next up was Alfred de Lleida, a Catalonian independence activist who described the events around the October 3rd Catalonian Independence referendum and how the democratic will of the Catalonian people has been undermined by the Spanish state. Even after the draconian measures carried out by the Spanish State, in the lead up to the referendum the Catalans still voted in overwhelming numbers on behalf of those seeking independence. He also pointed out, the unnecessary incarceration of those who organised the referendum. Though the initial momentum garnered though the October 3rd was not used to its full potential, down to the disorganisation of some the leaders of the independence movement and the initiative was lost. The new Republic was impossible to enforce, because of lack of support from the international community on an official level and so on. However, because of the violent nature in which the Spanish state clamped down on the movement and enforced direct rule on Catalonia. Which has done a lot to discredit the Spanish state in the region as well as the international stage. There was also a small victory in that Independence movement was re-elected as the majority in the regional parliament. He drew parallels in the Irish struggle for independence after 1916. Moving forward they will have to develop new strategies to build a consensus within grassroots communities around what the new Republic can offer such as social justice and equality. Also how communities have organised themselves for the defence of the Republic, which is something that could be built upon. Also discussed was the possibility to build a solidarity with Countries on the European periphery and also North African States.
Frankie Quinn in responding to some the points being made by Alfred about 1916 and War of Independence, such as how the right-wing elements will inevitably try to position themselves into power and carry out a Counter-Revolution. A change of the flag isn’t enough and won’t change the conditions of working-class people. Frankie went on the say that although the Catalans may have lost this battle, there is every chance that this has set in motion the start of Catalan freedom.
This was followed by Neil McThréanlámh of the Sean Heuston 1916 Society, Dublin, give an insight of the 1916 Societies involvement in the Anti Eviction Campaign. Neil who has just completed a law degree, holds a clinic once a week to give advice to those facing eviction and so on. He explains that you cannot divorce law from politics, that laws are enacted on whims of those in power to keeps in privilege. He goes on to say that most Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil ministers are landlords, that enacted laws which favours banks over the rights of ordinary people. For example, the court services have an investment committee, which means some of the judges involved in that, also presides over the court of appeal. That this investment committee has been investing in banks and other funds since the introduction of the Euro, he shed light on the conflict of interests.which lies at the very heart of the system. He goes on to make the point that, all that stops us living in a decent society is good laws that favours the people, which would allow them to keep a roof over their head even during hard times. Some of the activities in which Sean Heuston Society and other Dublin based societies have been involved were direct action protests, such as sit-ins in bank lobbies, properties which bailiffs were trying to seize and so on.
Frankie Quinn then ended the proceedings by thanking the speakers and everyone who was involved, then paying a mark of respect to Seamus McElwaine who’s monument is only is yards from the gathering.
Post Punk Changed The World
Christopher Owens again delves into the world of music, this time the post punk scene. 
We all know the story with punk and how it influenced people who would never have thought of picking up an instrument/pen/art canvas and gave them an outlet. John Lydon famously talked about there being "no future", but for many who heeded the call of punk, the future was unwritten.
But what post punk did was that it encouraged the same people to go beyond three chords. To think why they were picking those chords. To examine the role of words in their songwriting: were they telling a story or painting a picture. To deconstruct the world that they lived in and rebuild it in their own image.
And while this could be high faulting talk (the first wave came to be in 1979, the year Margaret Thatcher came to power, ushering in the "mememe" era), the amount of independent labels, self sufficient bands and underground fanzines showed that it was possible to construct a genuine alternative to the mainstream. Hell, even the biggest band in the world (U2) come from a post punk background, and were arguably the only band of their ilk to retain their roots despite massive success.
Published in 2016, Post Punk: Then and Now is a collection of essays which originated out of lectures, talks and discussions in 2014. Several questions lay at the heart of these discussions: what were the conditions of possibility for art and music-making before the era of neoliberal capitalism? What role did punk play in turning artists to experiment with popular music in the late 1970s and early 1980s? And why does the art and music of these times seem so newly pertinent to our political present, despite the seeming remoteness of its historical moment?
All very interesting and worthy questions to ask. As we all know, movements of any kind (be they social, political or musical) are all reflections of their time. NICRA arguably wouldn't have been possible without the combination of the civil rights movement in America, the emerging university educated nationalist class and the increasing influence of Marxism within the IRA. All three were as important as each other.
Where the book succeeds is discussing the social and historical contexts that led to the rise of the genre, as well as the implications that its re-emergence in the last 15 years has to say about our retro charged culture, as well as interviews with the likes of Lydia Lunch and Green Gartside (Scritti Politti) on their working methods and their thought processes behind their art, as well as looking at the roles that art and fanzines played.
As all three editors state in the introductory lecture, the immediate influence of punk, the state of Britain in the late 70's and the paranoia over the four minute warning drove manys a person. Makes perfect sense to me.
Ellen Willis is then quoted in order to explain how:
Now this is a very interesting point of view for two reasons. Firstly, it means that the post punk period can be defined, historically speaking, as being from 1979 to 1985. From the rise of Thatcher to the consolidation of her reign with the defeat of the miners, that period of post punk where countless people started up record labels based on the British governments Enterprise grant went from being perceived as radical subversives (see "God's Cop" James Anderton raiding record shops in Manchester for copies of 'Penis Envy' by Crass) to being seen as Thatcherite yuppies, out to make a few quid for themselves in the world of dog eat dog.
Secondly, this talk of the mainstream left failing to absorb the energies of the counterculture. Although it's tempting to think of Jeremy Corbyn with Stormzy, or Tony Blair with Noel Gallagher, Willis is driving at the failure to harness the power and influence of these radicals in order to change our governments.
The only example of such a thing we have is Green Party MLA Steven Agnew, who emerged from the Giros scene, and who recently embarrassed himself over comments about a salary cut, so maybe it's best such a failure to link up remains that way.
As you can see, the book really set my imagination on fire. The essays on the movement in places like Poland in the early 80's and Brazil were just as fascinating, not only to see how they flourished in such differing circumstances as Britain, but also to read about how the local music had such an influence on what these bands did, as opposed to the concept of ripping it up and starting again (as articulated by Orange Juice).
The best essay/lecture in the book is 'Going Overground: The Jam between Populism and Popular Modernism.' Here, Mark Fischer examines the career of the Jam and how their appeal and legacy has been hijacked by a bunch of nostalgic, backwards looking types, when the actual music and lyrics are just as challenging as those found in a Killing Joke or Gang of Four LP (with the main difference being the Jam's huge commercial success).
He argues that their signature song, 'Going Underground', was an archetypical response to the rise of Thatcher, and how it also symbolised a retreat into the sidelines for the radical left: I don't like what I see so I'm going to retreat instead of attempting to change anything. It's a potent argument, and expertly articulated.
Overall, this is a book which forces you to rethink your conceptions on music from this period. Those who are already in tune with this subculture will find an awful lot to interest them and argue about. Others may find it too dry and overwhelming for those with no prior knowledge or awareness of post punk. Such people would be advised to persevere, as the concepts are universal enough and the comparisons to our modern world will provide an easy foot hold.
Gavin Butt, Kodwo Eshun, Mark Fisher 2016 Post Punk: Then and Now Repeater ISBN-13: 978-1910924266
Christopher Owens reviews for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland.Follow Christopher Owens on Twitter @MrOwens212
We all know the story with punk and how it influenced people who would never have thought of picking up an instrument/pen/art canvas and gave them an outlet. John Lydon famously talked about there being "no future", but for many who heeded the call of punk, the future was unwritten.
But what post punk did was that it encouraged the same people to go beyond three chords. To think why they were picking those chords. To examine the role of words in their songwriting: were they telling a story or painting a picture. To deconstruct the world that they lived in and rebuild it in their own image.
And while this could be high faulting talk (the first wave came to be in 1979, the year Margaret Thatcher came to power, ushering in the "mememe" era), the amount of independent labels, self sufficient bands and underground fanzines showed that it was possible to construct a genuine alternative to the mainstream. Hell, even the biggest band in the world (U2) come from a post punk background, and were arguably the only band of their ilk to retain their roots despite massive success.
Published in 2016, Post Punk: Then and Now is a collection of essays which originated out of lectures, talks and discussions in 2014. Several questions lay at the heart of these discussions: what were the conditions of possibility for art and music-making before the era of neoliberal capitalism? What role did punk play in turning artists to experiment with popular music in the late 1970s and early 1980s? And why does the art and music of these times seem so newly pertinent to our political present, despite the seeming remoteness of its historical moment?
All very interesting and worthy questions to ask. As we all know, movements of any kind (be they social, political or musical) are all reflections of their time. NICRA arguably wouldn't have been possible without the combination of the civil rights movement in America, the emerging university educated nationalist class and the increasing influence of Marxism within the IRA. All three were as important as each other.
Where the book succeeds is discussing the social and historical contexts that led to the rise of the genre, as well as the implications that its re-emergence in the last 15 years has to say about our retro charged culture, as well as interviews with the likes of Lydia Lunch and Green Gartside (Scritti Politti) on their working methods and their thought processes behind their art, as well as looking at the roles that art and fanzines played.
As all three editors state in the introductory lecture, the immediate influence of punk, the state of Britain in the late 70's and the paranoia over the four minute warning drove manys a person. Makes perfect sense to me.
Ellen Willis is then quoted in order to explain how:
she talks of a frustration she felt, an incompatibility between the kind of desires that were articulated and propagated by the counterculture, and mainstream left wing politics...We're haunted by the failure of the left to come to some arrangement with the libertarian energies that came out of music culture. Instead, the right absorbed and converted the energies of the counterculture into its own project of re-individualisation.
Now this is a very interesting point of view for two reasons. Firstly, it means that the post punk period can be defined, historically speaking, as being from 1979 to 1985. From the rise of Thatcher to the consolidation of her reign with the defeat of the miners, that period of post punk where countless people started up record labels based on the British governments Enterprise grant went from being perceived as radical subversives (see "God's Cop" James Anderton raiding record shops in Manchester for copies of 'Penis Envy' by Crass) to being seen as Thatcherite yuppies, out to make a few quid for themselves in the world of dog eat dog.
Secondly, this talk of the mainstream left failing to absorb the energies of the counterculture. Although it's tempting to think of Jeremy Corbyn with Stormzy, or Tony Blair with Noel Gallagher, Willis is driving at the failure to harness the power and influence of these radicals in order to change our governments.
The only example of such a thing we have is Green Party MLA Steven Agnew, who emerged from the Giros scene, and who recently embarrassed himself over comments about a salary cut, so maybe it's best such a failure to link up remains that way.
As you can see, the book really set my imagination on fire. The essays on the movement in places like Poland in the early 80's and Brazil were just as fascinating, not only to see how they flourished in such differing circumstances as Britain, but also to read about how the local music had such an influence on what these bands did, as opposed to the concept of ripping it up and starting again (as articulated by Orange Juice).
The best essay/lecture in the book is 'Going Overground: The Jam between Populism and Popular Modernism.' Here, Mark Fischer examines the career of the Jam and how their appeal and legacy has been hijacked by a bunch of nostalgic, backwards looking types, when the actual music and lyrics are just as challenging as those found in a Killing Joke or Gang of Four LP (with the main difference being the Jam's huge commercial success).
He argues that their signature song, 'Going Underground', was an archetypical response to the rise of Thatcher, and how it also symbolised a retreat into the sidelines for the radical left: I don't like what I see so I'm going to retreat instead of attempting to change anything. It's a potent argument, and expertly articulated.
Overall, this is a book which forces you to rethink your conceptions on music from this period. Those who are already in tune with this subculture will find an awful lot to interest them and argue about. Others may find it too dry and overwhelming for those with no prior knowledge or awareness of post punk. Such people would be advised to persevere, as the concepts are universal enough and the comparisons to our modern world will provide an easy foot hold.
Gavin Butt, Kodwo Eshun, Mark Fisher 2016 Post Punk: Then and Now Repeater ISBN-13: 978-1910924266
Christopher Owens reviews for Metal Ireland and finds time to study the history and inherent contradictions of Ireland.Follow Christopher Owens on Twitter @MrOwens212
January 25, 2018
Russia: Trade Unionists And Anti-Fascists Unite
Gabriel Levy brings his considerable expertise on Russia to bear in the following analysis of a new alliance in the country.
A Russian trade union, facing a legal threat to its existence, will on Friday make common cause in defence of democratic rights with anti-fascist campaigners.
The interregional trade union “Workers Association”, known by its Russian acronym MPRA, has been deemed a “foreign agent” by a St Petersburg court – a legal measure requiring special registration and extensive audits, and often backed by police harassment campaigns.
The court also issued an unprecedented order to dissolve the MPRA, which was set up by car workers in 2006 and since 2013 has organised among other types of workers.
The law against “foreign agents”, passed in 2012, has been used against a wide range of non-
governmental organisations, from human rights campaigners and election monitoring groups to educational institutions. The ruling against the MPRA, made on 10 January, is the first against a trade union.
MPRA members at a lobby of parliament. See “About the photo”.
The MPRA reacted to the court decision by saying that it would continue its lawful organising activity.
Yesterday the union announced a campaign to defend its right to organise, and called on members to join anti-fascist demonstrations on 19 January – which are held each year on the anniversary of the murder of anti-fascist campaigners Anastasia Baburova and Stanislav Markelov. They were gunned down by fascists, in broad daylight, in central Moscow on 19 January 2009.
Update, 21 January. Friday’s demos went ahead in a large number of Russian cities: there are some great photos in this report by the Russian Socialist Movement. In Ukraine, demonstrators marking the anniversary were attacked by fascists, who were protected by the police. In London, an English translation of Markelov’s last article was published to mark the occasion.
The MPRA’s slogans for Friday are “hands off the trade unions”, and “no to the law on ‘foreign agents’ – solidarity is not a crime”. The MPRA’s statement said (in part):
Trade unionists internationally are asked to send messages of support to the MPRA at mpra.ituwa@gmail.com.
“Then They Came for the Unions …”
A comment article by Ivan Ovsyannikov. This English version was first published on the US web site Socialistworker.org and is reproduced with thanks to Kate S, the translator. The Russian original is here.
On 10 January, the St. Petersburg City Court issued a ruling to dissolve the Worker’s Association Interregional Trade Union (MPRA), known for its high-profile strikes at a Ford plant. This is the first time a 2012 law about non-governmental organizations acting as “foreign agents” has been applied to a workers’ organization; unions were previously untouched by it.
An Independent Union
The MPRA, while not the largest Russian trade union – its official membership numbers approximately 4,000 – is perhaps the most renowned. It emerged in the midst of a high-profile series of strikes at the Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk [outside of St Petersburg], the most well-known of which took place in winter 2007. Bringing production to a halt and blocking the entrance to the factory, the Ford workers won the majority of their demands from the plant’s administration. Wages grew by 11 per cent, and yearly pay raises were indexed to 1 per cent above the rate of inflation. For several years afterward, the Vsevolozhsk factory’s contract, which determined working conditions and benefits, was considered a model in union circles.
The leader of the strikers, welder Alexei Etmanov, became famous overnight and, in 2011, was elected to the Leningrad Region Legislative Assembly, where he showed his worth in the opposition. In 2014, his antiwar position [against the annexation of Crimea] cost him the support of the centre-left party A Just Russia and his mandate. In 2016, he ran on the liberal Yabloko ballot line and lost.
By the end of the 2000s, the Ford factory’s example had spread: Workers at Volkswagen, AvtoVAZ, Omsktransmash, and dozens of lesser-known companies both foreign- and Russian-owned joined the ranks of the MPRA. Over the past 10 years, only a few have managed to replicate the Ford workers’ success, which was surpassed only by the workers of the Volkswagen factory in Kaluga. There, the staff of the plant was able to avoid the massive layoffs that swept through the auto industry in 2015. According to the contract that the union won, autoworkers in Kaluga would be sent not back onto the job market, but to paid vacation and training at the auto group’s European branches.
In the pre-crisis years [before the collapse of the Russian ruble in 2014], the MPRA made a name for itself through several strikes and protests. Unlike the old trade unions, which serve mostly to distribute favours, the MPRA has placed its bets on collective action, arousing the anger of the state, not to mention employers. In 2016, a Kaluga TV channel produced, Anatomy of a Union, a “whistleblowing” film that accused the MPRA of ties to the West and orchestrating a “Maidan”. Further attacks followed. [Maidan, the Ukrainian word for “square”, denotes potentially insurrectionary protest action. Russian officials have used it, negatively, since the 2014 protests in Kyiv that brought down the Yanukovich government, which were held on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square).]
The MPRA banner on a picket line
Last year, on 19 May, Ilya Remeslo filed a complaint about the union with the prosecutor for the Krasnogvardeysky district of St Petersburg. Although Remeslo calls himself a lawyer and investigator, he is better known as a propagandist who specialises in criticising the opposition. The prosecutor’s office took the cue right away, beginning an audit that resulted in a lawsuit for the union’s dissolution.
“The first question the procurator’s representative asked when they visited our office was, ‘So what do unions do?’ These are completely ignorant people. But these days, the brood of snitches who use state prosecutors as a tool for their own political gain keeps growing,” declared Alexei Etmanov as he left the courtroom. The judge needed no more than five minutes in her chambers to dissolve the union.
Do You Have Any Relatives Abroad? [A question that was often asked on official forms in Soviet times]
The MPRA was charged with “egregious violations of the law and systematic actions counter to the rules”. All the items in the indictment can be sorted into three groups: formal complaints about the union’s founding documents (for example, the use of the phrase “social alliance” instead of “social organisation” in the rules), involvement in political activity disguised as union activity, and receiving funding from abroad.
The decision of the St Petersburg court is unprecedented for two reasons. For the first time, an organization not included in the state register of foreign agents was dissolved by a court for “performing the functions of a foreign agent” (the court opined that the MPRA should have registered as a foreign agent voluntarily); and, for the first time, a trade union fell within the purview of the rule about foreign agents.
Until now, Russian unions had felt themselves to be relatively safe; they were protected by International Labour Organisation conventions, which Russia has ratified, and by the federal law on trade unions, which distinguishes them from other civil society organizations.
“We all understand perfectly well that Russian trade unions are a part of the international labour movement,” says Oleg Babich, the director of the legal department of the Confederation of Labour of Russia (the KTR, of which the MPRA is a part), who represented the union in court.
In the MPRA’s case, this means the global union IndustriALL, which brings together unions of metalworkers and chemical workers in more than a hundred countries of the world. In Russia, its members even include several perfectly state-approved unions, which, according to this logic, should also now be dissolved.
The accusation of foreign financial support for the MPRA is based on its receiving one-time grants of 150,000 and 180,000 rubles ($2,500 and $3,000) over the course of two years to organise trainings and workshops. However, in Alexei Etmanov’s words, the MPRA gives IndustriALL more than 200,000 rubles ($3,300) each year, and has a right to some compensation.
“Basically all unions do some kind of back-and-forth funding”, Oleg Babich explains. “It turns out that, using these kinds of lawsuits, without any warning or other, more gentle measures, they can now destroy large organisations that unite thousands of people.”
Solidarity Outside of the Law vs Unions Outside of Politics
The most unusual accusations brought by the city prosecutor against the MPRA are that it gave moral support to the 2015 protest of long-distance truck drivers, as expressed in an article titled “PLATON is no friend of ours”, and that union activists participated in a protest of fast-food workers from Carl’s Jr and a protest of doctors against cuts to hospital staff. According to the agency’s logic, the MPRA only had the right to defend the interests of its own members, but not the members of other organizations, even those with which it was affiliated.
Further “proof” of how Alexei Etmanov’s union “was actually involved in politics” was provided by the union’s online petition to change Article 134 of Russia’s labour code. These corrections were aimed at eliminating a loophole allowing private companies to not index their workers’ pay to the level of inflation.
“This court decision throws the entire existence of trade unions in Russia into doubt. It hasn’t come into legal force yet, and I sincerely hope that the Supreme Court will reconsider it”, Oleg Babich commented. Alexei Etmanov is not planning to lay down his arms, either. If the higher court leaves the decision to dissolve the union in effect, the MPRA may be resurrected under a new name.
About the main photo. These workers – members of the MPRA – demonstrated at the Russian parliament in October 2017, after a year-long campaign to try to force their employers, the building firm Gorizont and the underground railway construction company Globatek, to clear wages arrears. Before protesting at parliament they had tried and failed to get their money by appealing to the mayor, the labour inspectorate, the ministry of labour and the courts. From the MPRA web site.
More on anti-fascism in Russia and Ukraine
■ Ukrainian anti-fascists defy attack by neo-Nazis (January 2016)
■ “Why we take to the streets every year on 19 January” – Vlad Tupikin on the Russian Reader blog
More on the Russian workers’ movement
■ How Russia’s leading business newspaper reported the court decision on the MPRA (from the Russian Reader)
■ The MPRA’s declaration (scroll down for English)
■ Russia’s Working Poor (from the Russian Reader, December 2017)
■ The truckers’ strike (from the Russian Reader, April 2017)
A Russian trade union, facing a legal threat to its existence, will on Friday make common cause in defence of democratic rights with anti-fascist campaigners.
The interregional trade union “Workers Association”, known by its Russian acronym MPRA, has been deemed a “foreign agent” by a St Petersburg court – a legal measure requiring special registration and extensive audits, and often backed by police harassment campaigns.
The court also issued an unprecedented order to dissolve the MPRA, which was set up by car workers in 2006 and since 2013 has organised among other types of workers.
The law against “foreign agents”, passed in 2012, has been used against a wide range of non-
governmental organisations, from human rights campaigners and election monitoring groups to educational institutions. The ruling against the MPRA, made on 10 January, is the first against a trade union.
MPRA members at a lobby of parliament. See “About the photo”.The MPRA reacted to the court decision by saying that it would continue its lawful organising activity.
Yesterday the union announced a campaign to defend its right to organise, and called on members to join anti-fascist demonstrations on 19 January – which are held each year on the anniversary of the murder of anti-fascist campaigners Anastasia Baburova and Stanislav Markelov. They were gunned down by fascists, in broad daylight, in central Moscow on 19 January 2009.
Update, 21 January. Friday’s demos went ahead in a large number of Russian cities: there are some great photos in this report by the Russian Socialist Movement. In Ukraine, demonstrators marking the anniversary were attacked by fascists, who were protected by the police. In London, an English translation of Markelov’s last article was published to mark the occasion.
The MPRA’s slogans for Friday are “hands off the trade unions”, and “no to the law on ‘foreign agents’ – solidarity is not a crime”. The MPRA’s statement said (in part):
The MPRA is accused because, in representing Russian workers’ interests in labour disputes with international corporations, we have cooperated with trade unions in other countries and shared our experiences with them. We are accused of gathering moral support for our comrades: long-distance lorry drivers, doctors, service sector workers.
According to this logic, only selfish interests have the right to exist. Corrupt bureaucrats, who have no idea what solidarity is, are judging us by their own standards. We are incriminated for interfering in politics, because we made attempts to amend the Labour Code in workers’ interests. It’s as if the court, by its decision, is saying to every working person in Russia: “You aren’t satisfied with your pay? You want decent working conditions? You want your rights? You’re a foreign agent!”
In the next few days, parliament will hear the first reading of a bill to provide for registration as a “foreign agent” not only of civil society organisations and media, but also individual citizens. The nationalist hysteria and spy-mania in this country has risen to absurd heights. Under the mask of patriotism is concealed the profit motives of the big – including foreign – proprietors.
The MPRA calls on all who care about the future of our country to support the anti-fascist actions held to remember the human rights campaigner Stanislav Markelov and the journalist Anastasia Baburova, on 19 January. We called on all members of the MPRA, all trade unionists and all sympathisers of the workers’ movement to join the demonstrations, to demand the repeal of the provisions of the law on NGO-foreign agents, and an end to the repression of trade unions, civil society organisations, media, and ordinary citizens. We appeal to all to support the worker members of the MPRA and demand a review of the court decision.
Trade unionists internationally are asked to send messages of support to the MPRA at mpra.ituwa@gmail.com.
“Then They Came for the Unions …”
A comment article by Ivan Ovsyannikov. This English version was first published on the US web site Socialistworker.org and is reproduced with thanks to Kate S, the translator. The Russian original is here.
On 10 January, the St. Petersburg City Court issued a ruling to dissolve the Worker’s Association Interregional Trade Union (MPRA), known for its high-profile strikes at a Ford plant. This is the first time a 2012 law about non-governmental organizations acting as “foreign agents” has been applied to a workers’ organization; unions were previously untouched by it.
An Independent Union
The MPRA, while not the largest Russian trade union – its official membership numbers approximately 4,000 – is perhaps the most renowned. It emerged in the midst of a high-profile series of strikes at the Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk [outside of St Petersburg], the most well-known of which took place in winter 2007. Bringing production to a halt and blocking the entrance to the factory, the Ford workers won the majority of their demands from the plant’s administration. Wages grew by 11 per cent, and yearly pay raises were indexed to 1 per cent above the rate of inflation. For several years afterward, the Vsevolozhsk factory’s contract, which determined working conditions and benefits, was considered a model in union circles.
The leader of the strikers, welder Alexei Etmanov, became famous overnight and, in 2011, was elected to the Leningrad Region Legislative Assembly, where he showed his worth in the opposition. In 2014, his antiwar position [against the annexation of Crimea] cost him the support of the centre-left party A Just Russia and his mandate. In 2016, he ran on the liberal Yabloko ballot line and lost.
By the end of the 2000s, the Ford factory’s example had spread: Workers at Volkswagen, AvtoVAZ, Omsktransmash, and dozens of lesser-known companies both foreign- and Russian-owned joined the ranks of the MPRA. Over the past 10 years, only a few have managed to replicate the Ford workers’ success, which was surpassed only by the workers of the Volkswagen factory in Kaluga. There, the staff of the plant was able to avoid the massive layoffs that swept through the auto industry in 2015. According to the contract that the union won, autoworkers in Kaluga would be sent not back onto the job market, but to paid vacation and training at the auto group’s European branches.
In the pre-crisis years [before the collapse of the Russian ruble in 2014], the MPRA made a name for itself through several strikes and protests. Unlike the old trade unions, which serve mostly to distribute favours, the MPRA has placed its bets on collective action, arousing the anger of the state, not to mention employers. In 2016, a Kaluga TV channel produced, Anatomy of a Union, a “whistleblowing” film that accused the MPRA of ties to the West and orchestrating a “Maidan”. Further attacks followed. [Maidan, the Ukrainian word for “square”, denotes potentially insurrectionary protest action. Russian officials have used it, negatively, since the 2014 protests in Kyiv that brought down the Yanukovich government, which were held on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square).]
The MPRA banner on a picket line Last year, on 19 May, Ilya Remeslo filed a complaint about the union with the prosecutor for the Krasnogvardeysky district of St Petersburg. Although Remeslo calls himself a lawyer and investigator, he is better known as a propagandist who specialises in criticising the opposition. The prosecutor’s office took the cue right away, beginning an audit that resulted in a lawsuit for the union’s dissolution.
“The first question the procurator’s representative asked when they visited our office was, ‘So what do unions do?’ These are completely ignorant people. But these days, the brood of snitches who use state prosecutors as a tool for their own political gain keeps growing,” declared Alexei Etmanov as he left the courtroom. The judge needed no more than five minutes in her chambers to dissolve the union.
Do You Have Any Relatives Abroad? [A question that was often asked on official forms in Soviet times]
The MPRA was charged with “egregious violations of the law and systematic actions counter to the rules”. All the items in the indictment can be sorted into three groups: formal complaints about the union’s founding documents (for example, the use of the phrase “social alliance” instead of “social organisation” in the rules), involvement in political activity disguised as union activity, and receiving funding from abroad.
The decision of the St Petersburg court is unprecedented for two reasons. For the first time, an organization not included in the state register of foreign agents was dissolved by a court for “performing the functions of a foreign agent” (the court opined that the MPRA should have registered as a foreign agent voluntarily); and, for the first time, a trade union fell within the purview of the rule about foreign agents.
Until now, Russian unions had felt themselves to be relatively safe; they were protected by International Labour Organisation conventions, which Russia has ratified, and by the federal law on trade unions, which distinguishes them from other civil society organizations.
“We all understand perfectly well that Russian trade unions are a part of the international labour movement,” says Oleg Babich, the director of the legal department of the Confederation of Labour of Russia (the KTR, of which the MPRA is a part), who represented the union in court.
In the MPRA’s case, this means the global union IndustriALL, which brings together unions of metalworkers and chemical workers in more than a hundred countries of the world. In Russia, its members even include several perfectly state-approved unions, which, according to this logic, should also now be dissolved.
The accusation of foreign financial support for the MPRA is based on its receiving one-time grants of 150,000 and 180,000 rubles ($2,500 and $3,000) over the course of two years to organise trainings and workshops. However, in Alexei Etmanov’s words, the MPRA gives IndustriALL more than 200,000 rubles ($3,300) each year, and has a right to some compensation.
“Basically all unions do some kind of back-and-forth funding”, Oleg Babich explains. “It turns out that, using these kinds of lawsuits, without any warning or other, more gentle measures, they can now destroy large organisations that unite thousands of people.”
Solidarity Outside of the Law vs Unions Outside of Politics
The most unusual accusations brought by the city prosecutor against the MPRA are that it gave moral support to the 2015 protest of long-distance truck drivers, as expressed in an article titled “PLATON is no friend of ours”, and that union activists participated in a protest of fast-food workers from Carl’s Jr and a protest of doctors against cuts to hospital staff. According to the agency’s logic, the MPRA only had the right to defend the interests of its own members, but not the members of other organizations, even those with which it was affiliated.
Further “proof” of how Alexei Etmanov’s union “was actually involved in politics” was provided by the union’s online petition to change Article 134 of Russia’s labour code. These corrections were aimed at eliminating a loophole allowing private companies to not index their workers’ pay to the level of inflation.
“This court decision throws the entire existence of trade unions in Russia into doubt. It hasn’t come into legal force yet, and I sincerely hope that the Supreme Court will reconsider it”, Oleg Babich commented. Alexei Etmanov is not planning to lay down his arms, either. If the higher court leaves the decision to dissolve the union in effect, the MPRA may be resurrected under a new name.
About the main photo. These workers – members of the MPRA – demonstrated at the Russian parliament in October 2017, after a year-long campaign to try to force their employers, the building firm Gorizont and the underground railway construction company Globatek, to clear wages arrears. Before protesting at parliament they had tried and failed to get their money by appealing to the mayor, the labour inspectorate, the ministry of labour and the courts. From the MPRA web site.
More on anti-fascism in Russia and Ukraine
■ Ukrainian anti-fascists defy attack by neo-Nazis (January 2016)
■ “Why we take to the streets every year on 19 January” – Vlad Tupikin on the Russian Reader blog
More on the Russian workers’ movement
■ How Russia’s leading business newspaper reported the court decision on the MPRA (from the Russian Reader)
■ The MPRA’s declaration (scroll down for English)
■ Russia’s Working Poor (from the Russian Reader, December 2017)
■ The truckers’ strike (from the Russian Reader, April 2017)
The Pacification Of Ireland Continues
Sean Bresnahan will be attending this year's Bloody Sunday march in Derry.
Just to be clear and to save any confusion, given how things can be perceived or misconstrued. The above relates neither to Saoradh or the Tony Taylor Campaign. Indeed the only reason I mention both here, and not others, is because they issued communique in regards to the march. The issue is with those it seems have their ear — though, that said, a phone call on their part would perhaps have served better.
The bottom line, no matter, is that for 46 years those families have marched for justice, with Republicans by their side throughout. I will be with them this year again and hope that others will be also — it’s the least they deserve. No Brit agenda should be let carry the day, even if this time they have done their work well. Where is the brains? The Bloody Sunday march represents one of the few remaining barriers to the pacification of Ireland. We’d all do well to consider this.
Sean Bresnahan blogs at An Claidheamh Soluis
Follow Sean Bresnahan on Twitter @bres79
Just to be clear and to save any confusion, given how things can be perceived or misconstrued. The above relates neither to Saoradh or the Tony Taylor Campaign. Indeed the only reason I mention both here, and not others, is because they issued communique in regards to the march. The issue is with those it seems have their ear — though, that said, a phone call on their part would perhaps have served better.
The bottom line, no matter, is that for 46 years those families have marched for justice, with Republicans by their side throughout. I will be with them this year again and hope that others will be also — it’s the least they deserve. No Brit agenda should be let carry the day, even if this time they have done their work well. Where is the brains? The Bloody Sunday march represents one of the few remaining barriers to the pacification of Ireland. We’d all do well to consider this.
Sean Bresnahan blogs at An Claidheamh Soluis
Follow Sean Bresnahan on Twitter @bres79
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